Motor City Tri Race Report

I'll start off by saying I felt great during this race.  From start to finish I had a blast and was surprised at how I felt (great for the first 2 parts and well the run.........)
Went down yesterday for package pick-up and decided to stick around and hear their triathlon clinic.  Man it would've been great last week.  This triathlon actually has 2 transition areas so I really wanted to hear how that was going to work out, so I listened to all the questions asked about 5 times each (like I said, wish I had it a week ago!)    
This morning I got down to the race and set up my run transition then I go to my car to get my bike ready to go and head down to the beach(about a mile) to set up my T1.  I had some rear derailleur problems so I had an opportunity to get it adjusted, thanks to the sponsoring bike shop!  After I get the transition set-up I get my wetsuit on and get a quick warm-up swim before we get called out of the  water for a course overview.
The offered a sprint and an olympic course so they wanted to make sure everyone was clear on their courses.  The bike run was 2 laps or 4 and the run lap was 1 or 2 (pretty easy to figure that out), the swim course was VERY different for the 2 events.  While we stood and watched them jet ski the course many of us waiting to go for the olympic asked: why did we sign-up for the long one again, lol?  
We then get sent back into the water and again I'm in the first wave -- didn't mind it so much this time.  The starting gun goes off and I find myself in the middle of the pack.  Didn't really want to be there but didn't see any easy way out so I just swam my pace and felt great.  It was about 500 meters to the first turn and the last 150 or so of this was into a 'slight' current.  When I hit that turn I was feeling pretty good but a little worried about completing this swim.  I went to a nice and easy breaststroke to get my breath and relax a little.  I looked at the river bank and realized that current was AWESOME.  We had it for about a 1000 meters and going with the current encouraged me to just keep going.  I exited the water as they were starting the female under 29 wave and I was thinking that was 40 minutes after my start -- I was wrong: exit time on swim 36:31!!!!!!!!!
The bike course was 4 loops on a 5.6 mile closed course.  There were 800+ people participating today so it was an absolute blast to be passing people left and right.  My official time was 1:15 with an average of 18.4.mph -- Garmin time was 1:05 with an average of 21.2/mph.  Why the difference: I got a flat at mile 19, grrr.  I thought I had it fixed in about 5 minutes, guess not, lol.  I had about 5 people asked if I was ok -- 2 ask if I needed a tube and at least 1 or 2 ask if needed any CO2 -- totally cool in my book!  My biggest beef is that in 3 uses of my tires I've gotten 2 flats, gonna call the bike shop tomorrow and talk to them.  The first time I heard a bang in my garage and discovered it was flat the next day -- that flat was in a very strange spot.  Today I didn't get a chance to check where the flat was and I had to leave the tube on the course but I'm thinking there may be a defect -- or a bur.    
The run, well I got to figure this stuff out.  I did 10:37/miles and struggled.  I really was hoping on 9:30 so this was truly a disappointment.  About a mile into the run I checked my Garmin and saw I was doing 8:45/9;00/miles and felt good.  It wasn't much after that I just couldn't get things going again.  After that first mile I don't think I was successful in maintaining a full mile without needing to walk.  I'm thinking it's a nutritional thing but it's frustrating.
So the final verdict: 19/28 in the Clydes division: Overall time of 3:08:23.  Take out the flat tire and I would've been at 2:58 with a 12/28 bike placement.  As it stands I was 19th out of the water, 20th on the bike, and 18th on the run -- guess I nailed that 19th spot pretty well:)
Thanks for the read!
--Dan
Edit: Forgot the best part!!!  I'm about half-way into the second run lap and I hear from behind, "How does it feel to have a hot older woman chase you around Belle Isle?"  I had a good laugh and told her "I'd lay chase to you if I could right now."  That bought me about 3/4 of a great mile!

Great race report Dan and a solid performnce! Work on that nutrition and you will be money!!! Nice comment from the older "Hot" lady.... Nothing like a little "Pace Booty" to keep up your pace on the bike...Rest well and have an awesome race this weekend. Focus on protein between now and wednesday afternoon, then switch to carb load....It's only a sprint so you should'nt have to load like you would for a marathon or anything,  but just make sure your levels of glycogen are topped off, because in a sprint distance, you should be "red lining" almost the whole race or in an Anaerobic zone which is whn your body is pretty much ONLY using Glycogen for fuel. Best of luck brother...

Dan,

Great race report. Sounds like things are going well for you should be ready for Steelhead come August.

Lots of people give 3Discipline racing a hard time, but I've done two of their races this year, and had no complaints. I did like the week before in Monroe Michigan where they did the course on the jet ski just so everyone was clear.

Are you doing Firecracker? I cant seem to remember what you said. Any interest in meeting in Benton Harbor to ride the Steelhead course?

 Not doing the Firecracker -- just too far for a Sprint for me.  If I knew people out that way I could stay with I'd do it, same thing with biking the course.  I'd really love to, but I think I'm gonna have to settle on a drive through the day before :(
I enjoyed the race and thought it was done well.  The Ann Arbor Triathlon was Elite Endeavors and there were some things they did that I really liked: such as a little roomier transition zone and assigned rack spots.  Like I said though -- they had 800+ participants and 2 transition zones so there were realistic limitations by the event.  
Good luck at the Firecracker -- if you get any pictures of that area post them or e-mail them to me, I'd love to see some of that area before July 31/August 1
--Dan

Dan,

Great race report!!  You are doing great.  Good luck this weekend.

Darrell

Awesome report Dan,

Thanks much for sharing the experience.

I'm sure you will crush them in the next race.

Scott

Great job on your race Dan!    Sucks to get flats or have mechanical problems, especially in the race environment.   Was the flat on your disc wheel?   What kinda flat was it?   Puncture or pinch?  

 

 The flats are actually happening with my front Jet 6 wheel.  I actually think it would have been slightly easier to change the tire on the disk (smaller stems).  
The first flat was a week ago and I heard a bang in the garage but didn't see anything.  The next day, loading up my bike I realized the tire was flat.  When I changed it it was a puncture flat along the side of the rim --- I've had pinch flats and punctures but never seen something quite like this.
Yesterday's flat, since I was on the race course and only in my tri suit I didn't have a decent pocket to bring the tube back with me -- nor did I have any CO2 left to see where the problem was -- I actually did consider blowing it up with my mouth but decided against that.  
Could be bad luck, last year I started my season out with several flats -- we'll see.
I do really enjoy these races!

Great report, it was a really good read.  And congrats on the race!  these reports of experiences from everybody on this forum are incredibly valuable, it is amazing what you can pick up from all of these reports in terms of tips and tricks...